For months, our household conversations have revolved around the question of ‘whether to stay or leave?’ We both have European passports, and I’ve long since gotten them for the kids as well, but where do we start? What do we do? And how on earth do I move two children at challenging ages (middle and elementary school)?
The best advice I can give you is taken from the brilliant cult movie ‘Operation Grandma’: ‘Start as fast as you can and gradually speed up.’ It was clear to me that I didn’t want to drag this out, so the first thing we did was to pin a date on the calendar and aim for that.
We haven’t told the kids anything yet, we decided not to confuse them until we had a basis, but meanwhile, we started working on their English, since an English-speaking destination is critical for us.
The first step was choosing a destination.
We wanted a cosmopolitan place, one that both of us love and where the kids wouldn’t feel like outsiders. After some thought, we unanimously decided on ‘Amsterdam’.
We quickly connected to forums, groups, and websites, which gave us even more of a headache. We couldn’t figure out who was against whom and what preceded what?
Then we heard about HollaHop. In our first conversation, they organized everything for us, explained the sequence of actions needed and how to do it right.
We gave them our target date and from there, we embarked on our journey.
The first thing they helped us with was finding a job. Fortunately, both of us are in what’s called ‘in-demand professions,’ which really eased the process for us. They sent us job offers, each of us did Zoom interviews and we gradually progressed until the contract signing.
Afterward, we explained our ‘complex’ situation. We needed a specifically sized apartment, but what was more critical for us was having schools nearby and, if possible, a community composed of families, as after all, we’re not just concerned about ourselves.
We were shocked; we received several options for future apartments and they even gave us a video tour. By this stage, when we realized everything was becoming tangible, we took the kids aside, explained the situation and the reasons for moving, and together with them, we chose the apartment and even ‘toured’ the neighborhood.
